


Hold My Hand

by MysticRose1992



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adorable L, Adorable Light, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Yagami Light Is Not Kira (Death Note), Bottom Yagami Light, Bullying, Cheating that's not really cheating, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Cute Kids, Cyber sex, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up Together, Hacker Light, Happy Ending, Hate Crimes, Homophobia, Inventor Light, Kidnapping, L is 4 years older than Light, Light goes by the name Raito, Light has a twin brother named Hikari, M/M, Online Dating, Possessive L, Sayu is not related to Light, School Shootings, Sexual Experimentation, Soulmates, Time Skips, Top L, Watari is Ls adopted father
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28022196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticRose1992/pseuds/MysticRose1992
Summary: Since a young age, L had never needed anyone, never wanted to need anyone, the only things L ever felt he needed were his computer and a case to solve. However, that all changes one night when someone hacks into his computer. At first, L is furious that anyone would dare to hack into his computer and he couldn’t figure out who had done it, but after the hacker helped him solve a case the two form a strange bond. Soon after, the Wammy House gets two new students, one of which is a self-made hacker.Inspired by AnotherLostSoul's story: Days of Our Lives
Relationships: Amane Misa/OMC, Amane Misa/Yagami Light (onesided), Beyond Birthday/L (onesided), L/Yagami Light, Matt | Mail Jeevas/Mello | Mihael Keehl
Comments: 10
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Days of Our Lives](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24880429) by [AnotherLostSoul (orphan_account)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/AnotherLostSoul). 



> As stated in the summary, this story was inspired by AnotherLostSoul's story 'Days of Our Lives'. 
> 
> I was reading their story when this idea popped into my head. It's not exactly like the story (the only thing I feel is the same is that Raito and L meet at Wammy's House when they were younger). However, if you spot anything similar to their story and I didn't give a shout out to them at either the opening or end of the chapter please feel free to point it out so that I can give credit to where credit is due. We writers need to stick together.
> 
> Also, feel free to check out their story.

**Chapter One-**

L remembered the day that his parents had abandoned him in the snow-covered park in the middle of winter. He remembered that they had been very superstitious and he knew that they had been frightened of his intelligence. It was easy to see now, looking back, that his parents _must_ have thought he was the devil. His parents had never truly been _loving_ to him, but at the young age of three, he hadn't expected them to try and _kill_ him. They had bundled him up after having fed him the biggest and _finest_ meal that they had been able to afford. Looking back now he could see that it had supposed to have been his _last meal_. And it probably would have had Quillsh not stumbled upon him.

He remembered his father picking him up and holding him. He remembered looking over his father's shoulder at his mother as they hurried through their neighborhood. She had a look of determination in her eyes. They had taken a trolly to the nicer part of the city. L remembered it has confused him. Why had his parents wasted the money to come out this way? He didn't want, nor need, to see the colorful lights. All he wanted was to snuggle up in his little room and read his books.

He remembered that when they had gotten to the park, it had been crowded with families and couples taking a stroll or playing in the snow. His parents had joined the people strolling along the park. And after a few circuits around the large park, the sun had started to set and the park had quickly emptied as the temperature began to drop. It was then that his parents quickly found a bench that was out of sight. That was where they sat him down and told him to wait for them there. They had promised him some hot chocolate. And being the ever trusting three-year-old, he sat on the bench and watched his parents disappear.

It took only thirty minutes of waiting in the freezing night for L to realize that his parents weren't coming back and that he would not be getting any hot chocolate. He remembered standing up on the bench and look in the direction his parents had disappeared, trying to will them to come back, only to fall into a crouch when they didn't appear. He had known he could make it back home, having unconsciously memorized the route there, but would he be welcomed back? His parents had gone out of their way to leave him here.

L remembered how his small body had begun to shake and shiver, he remembered the way his breath looked as it fogged up the air in front of him before disappearing. He remembered how he had _longed_ for some hot chocolate to warm himself up. He also remembered debating with himself whether or not to leave the bench and find shelter or not. Logically he had known that he should leave the bench and find shelter, but _emotionally_ he couldn't. He had _promised_ his mummy and daddy that he would stay there and wait for them.

L didn't remember how long he had crouched there, his mind racing trying to figure out what he should do when Quillsh came up to him with a cup of hot chocolate in his hand and a couple blankets thrown over his arms. It had taken Quillsh a while to convince L that he hadn't done anything to the hot chocolate and that it was safe to take. But once L had accepted the hot chocolate, it hadn't taken much more convincing to let Quillsh wrap the blankets around him.

L didn't quite remember what happened after that. And quite frankly, he didn't _want_ to know because he knew the end result: him being enrolled at Wammy's House. At first L had been excited, he would be surrounded with people like himself. However, after the other students took a look at how he sat (having taken to sitting in a crouch after noticing how much faster his brain had gotten) they began to mock and tease him.

Over the years the teasing had turned to bulling. After being pushed down the stairs and hospitalized when he was seven, L began to lock himself in his dorm room and refused to leave it. He began going to class via the internet and, after nearly dying of boredom, hacked into the British Police Force data bank and began solving cold cases. His name began getting notice and whispers of a mysterious Detective L began. However, it wasn't until he solved his first real and _active_ case at the age of 11 did the mysterious Detective L blow up.

People wanted to know who this unknown detective was. Why did they hide their face? Why did they call themselves 'L'? What did it stand for? Were they more than one person?

L found their questions annoying and ignored them, focusing on solving more cases. He liked solving cases, it made him feel good, as if he had a purpose. Part of him thinks it was nice to prove his parents wrong and that he _wasn't_ a devil in human form. What he _didn't_ like was school. It was boring and the teachers never taught him anything he didn't already know. However, to appease Quillsh (it was easier than constantly fighting the man who saved him), he always had the lecture on in the background as he solved crimes.

It was during a math's lecture when it happened the first time.

" _That's wrong."_ The words had just suddenly appeared on his screen causing L to freeze and blink. He hadn't typed that, had he? He lifted his left hand from where it was clutching his left knee and pulled his right thumb from where it sat on his lip as he read through his newest case file. No, there had been no way he had typed that. After the shock left him, his hands flew to his computer and quickly pulled up a scan. His computer had been hacked.

" _What is wrong?"_ L quickly responded, hoping to keep the hacker there long enough for his scan to work. It was silent for a minute and L feared that the hacker had slipped away while he had been in shock.

" _That teacher._ " L blinked at that, not having been paying attention to the lecture. _"They claimed the answer was 3.903 when it is actually 9.076. Sorry to have bothered you. I sent that first message without thinking."_ And then they were gone seconds before the scan finished. The hacker had escaped. L had ordered Quillsh to get him a new computer after that and created a stronger security measure for not only his computer but also the school's whole system. He wouldn't allow the hacker back in. He had very important and very confidential information, it would be bad if any of it leaked.

L had kept his eyes and ears open, listening for any whispers that confidential information about his case had been leaked. He didn't dare to allow himself to relax, even after salving the case, the hacker was still out there. They had been good too, not leaving any trail behind them, so L hadn't been able to catch them. And that had left L to become paranoid. Would the hacker be back? That thought had L constantly tweaking his security on his computer.

The second time it happened, L nearly destroyed his dorm room.

L was deep in a difficult case. The case had kept him up for nearly 3 days by this point. His tired eyes were going over every piece of evidence he had. He was missing something, over-looking something; he just _knew_ it. If he could just _find_ that something then he could solve the case. His eyes closed for a minute and L felt himself starting to tip backwards. No. He couldn't sleep just yet. He had to solve the case first.

He forced himself to stare at the screen. It took his mind a couple of minutes to notice that his mouse icon had started to move without his consent. L glanced down at the mouse, it wasn't moving, he looked back at the screen to see that the mouse icon was still moving. L tilted his head and watched as the mouse icon highlighted a couple of sentences before it clicked in his mind that he was being hacked once more.

Anger flooded him. How _dare_ this person just casually hack him. Who did they think they were? Did they _know_ who they were hacking?

"What do you think you are doing?" L growled out, not actually expecting an answer.

" _Helping?"_ The hacker typed out a few minutes later and L's blood ran cold. The hacker had _heard_ him. They had hacked into his mic.

"You've hacked into my mic." L stated.

" _I didn't mean to. Scared me when I heard your voice through my speakers."_ The hacker told him. _"I just wanted to check up on you when I noticed you seemed stuck. Sorry. I'll leave."_ And the hacker was gone once more. It was only then that L realized that he hadn't even started his scan. In a rush of anger, L picked up the closest thing to him that wasn't his computer and threw it. He continued his tantrum until Quillsh ran in and sedated him after he had been unable to calm the raging preteen.

When L woke up from his sedation, he quickly checked the evidence and noted that the hacker had located what L had been over-looking in his tired state. The witness stated that the assailant had been holding the knife in his _right_ hand, however evidence indicated that the assailant was _left_ -handed and wasn't ambidextrous. The witness was lying. With that knowledge in mind, L began to go over the evidence again, noticing all the little inconsistencies.

However, just because the hacker had helped him out this time, didn't mean L would give them the chance to do so next time.

It wasn't until a couple of years later that L finally accepted that he would not be able to stop his hacker from hacking him. Once he had accepted that fact, the two of them formed a strange bond with each other. L kept his hacker a secret from everyone, not wanting people to know that he sometimes needed help from his hacker, while his hacker kept other unfriendly hackers from hacking him.

**-One-**

Raito was nine years old when the headmaster of Wammy's House caught wind of how smart his brother was. His parents hadn't known that he had been in the house when they had meet with the old man. He had snuck back into the house hours earlier to hide from his brother and his gang after his brother had gotten them kicked out of the house.

Raito had always been a curious boy, so when he had heard English being spoken downstairs, he had had to see who it was coming from. It was too perfect to be from his parents. Though his parents were better at speaking and understanding English than most people who didn't study it or use it every day, they still had a heavy accent when speaking English. This person didn't have an accent when speaking. So, they were either a native-born English speaker or spent years studying and speaking English.

Raito had quietly snuck downstairs and saw his parents talking to an older man with grey hair. They were sitting in the living room, sipping tea and talking. They had switched the Japanese and Raito was impressed; the man didn't have an accent that he expected him to have. Raito stayed hidden as the adults talked, and listened in on what they were saying.

Raito's school had given his brother, Hikari, a special test after noticing how smart he was and the man had come here to talk to his parents about the result. Raito knew how smart his brother was, and was proud of him, but at the same time Raito knew that he was _smarter_ than his brother. _Raito_ was the one Hikari came to for help, _Raito_ was the one that tutored Hikari in subjects that Hikari had trouble in.

Something deep inside Raito burned, it wasn't like he was _jealous,_ not really. Raito knew that if he wanted to, he could gain as much, if not more, attention to his own intelligence that Hikari was getting. However, Raito didn't want to be in that spotlight, people expected too much of the person who _was_ in that spotlight. But that didn't stop the little voice in the back of his mind that begged for someone to notice him, to notice how smart he was as well.

Raito sat, curled in a ball, listening to the man try and convince his parents to move them to England so that _Hikari_ could attend a school that was meant to teach kids like _Hikari_. As Raito continued to listen to the conversation about how well _Hikari_ would do at the school, how much better it would before _Hikari_ , how stimulating it would before for _Hikari_ , something over came Raito.

He shot up from his spot and quickly made his way back to his room. Raito dug through his 'box of junk' as his brother lovingly called it and pulled out a toy he had created. It wasn't much, something that he had come up with after begging his mom for a pet. But since his mother was deathly allergic to the pet he wanted, he couldn't have it, so he decided to _make_ it.

He looked at the small black kitten in his hand. It hadn't ended up quite as he had hoped. It didn't move naturally and the voice box had broken with in the first week so it couldn't meow, and the large plastic eyes were scary to look at sometimes. However, he had made it when he was six, so that had to count for something right? As he continued to stare at the kitten, ideas of how to make it work better filled his mind for a few seconds before Raito shook them away and left the room in determination.

However, once he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, hesitation set in. Why was he doing this? It wasn't like he actually wanted to move to England and go to Wammy's House. Raito closed his eyes and gathered his courage; he had come this far and they had most likely heard him running up the stairs earlier anyway. So, with that thought in mind, Raito stepped off the last step and made his way into the living room. His courage wavered once more when the old man turned to look at him, his mom and dad no longer in the room. They must have stepped in the other room to discuss amongst themselves in private.

"Ah, you must be the famous Hikari. I wondered if that had been you listening in earlier. I am Mr. Wammy, but if that is too hard for you to say, you may call me Watari." The old man told him. Raito wasn't shocked that the man thought him to be his brother, after all they were identical twins.

"I'm Raito." Raito told him, his voice shaking with nervousness.

"Ah, my apologies, Raito-kun. I've heard about you. You're a smart boy as well, aren't you?" Mr. Wammy asked him, a strange sparkle in his eyes as if they were sharing a private joke. Raito didn't know what to say so he just nodded his head. "What's that in your hands?" Raito tightened his hands around the kitten before shoving it at the man. Mr. Wammy looked at him for another minute, a strange look in his eyes, before turning his attention to the toy that was now in his hands. Raito watched as Mr. Wammy held the kitten up and tilted it this way and that.

"Pet it." Raito told him. Mr. Wammy glanced at him before running his hand on the kitten's head before running it down its back towards its tail. Raito focused on the toy, hopping that it would actually work. He smiled proudly when the kitten awkwardly opened its mouth, it was meowing. It then jerkily stretched. Raito winced as he heard the gears and metal grinding against each other. "The voice box broke. It's supposed to meow, purr, and even hiss. The movement is jerky and awkward and unnatural, but I have ideas of improving both the movement and voice box."

"You made this?" Mr. Wammy asked looking at him with a guarded look and Raito nodded.

"About three years ago, yeah. I gave up on it when I couldn't get the movements right, but I think I can get it to work with the new technologies that have come out." Raito explained taking the toy away from the man and turning it onto it's back. "The skeleton of the toy is made with bits of metal and plastic that isn't very flexible, but it was all I had to work with. The voice box is from an old toy that Hikari was throwing out, I just took it and reworked it to play from a recording of a neighborhood cat. But it was small and it broke when it fell off my desk and I just never got around to replacing it." Raito snapped his mouth shut when he caught himself rambling, he never really did that, not even when trying to explain to his parents what any of his other toys he made did. He had originally tried to explain to them how he made the toy but always saw their eyes glass up in confusion and eventually just stopped trying to explain them. However, there was something about this man that Raito felt he could explain everything about his toy and the man would be able to _understand_ and _follow_ what he was saying.

"Fascinating." Mr. Wammy breathed out and Raito was sure that he wasn't taking about the toy.

"Raito!" His mother cried out in shock when her and his father reentered the room to find him there. "I thought you were still outside playing with your friends." Raito looked down at the floor in embarrassment, he didn't actually have friends. He could never really get along with the other kids around his age. He didn't enjoy watching the shows they watched, he didn't read the books they read, and whenever he did try to play with them, he was more interested in figuring out how the make-believe world worked instead of actually playing the games.

"I am so sorry about this Watari-san." His father said before rushing over to try and lead him out of the living room.

"It is quite all right, Yagami-san. Raito-kun here was just showing me this toy he made." Mr. Wammy explained holding up the toy that was still in his hands.

"Our Raito-kun is quite the inventor." His father laughed awkwardly. "He's constantly taking things apart and putting them back together or using the working bits from other broken toys to create new toys."

"His room is full of the toys he has created." His mother said and Raito wasn't sure is she was praising him or complaining. He wouldn't let her clean his room and had thrown a huge tantrum when she had 'cleaned up' the 'mess' in his room and threw out something he had been working for months on.

"Would you mind showing me your room, Raito-kun?" Mr. Wammy asked and Raito looked into his excited eyes before shyly reaching out and taking hold of his hand. The journey to his room was both quick and long. Once at his closed door, Raito hesitated, looking back up at Mr. Wammy before opening the door leading the man into his room with his parents following them. He watched as Mr. Wammy's eyes lit up even more as he looked around. He heard his mom give out a muffed choking sound at the piles of 'junk' and broken toys that were on the floor. There were many different working toys that Raito created laying in boxes or sitting on the bookshelf. His newest creation that he had just finished the night before was sitting on the desk waiting to be tested.

It was a couple of spy watches that would allow you to listen to conversations in other rooms that held the tiny mics that you placed there. The tiny mics hid on the watch's wristband, and they were rechargeable. The watch could also 'scan' the target, there was even a 'data base' of information of the target. It could also be used as a two-way communication device. He had made the watches for his brother who was big into playing spy with his friends. And if it worked the way it was supposed to, he'd make a couple more for 'enemy spies' to use.

"Did you make all the toys in here?"

"All but the stuffed animals on the bed." Raito said pointing to the panda and cat toys laying on his bed. Mr. Wammy spun around to look at him in shock.

"When did you start making your own toys?" Mr. Wammy asked and Raito shrugged.

"He was always curious as to how things worked, but it wasn't until he was about four when he began to take things about to actually _see_ how they worked. I think he made his first toy when he was five." His father boasted.

"Are you all right, Mr. Wammy?" Raito asked quietly worried that he had broken the man. He hadn't seen anyone react like this after learning about his hobby.

"Yes, yes, I'm quite all right, Raito-kun. How would you like to come to Wammy's House along with your brother?" Mr. Wammy asked. Raito didn't know what to say, nor did he know how he was feeling. He hadn't shown Mr. Wammy his toy to get an invite to the school, he had just wanted someone outside of his family to acknowledge his intelligence. Raito looked over at his parents. What if he said he wanted to go? Would they upend their lives here just to move them to England to go to a special school? A special school that was no doubt very expensive.

"How much does it cost?" Raito asked causing Mr. Wammy to laugh as he knelt down to look Raito in the eyes.

"You don't have to worry about. There is a scholarship that applies to _you_ and from what I've just seen you've more than earned that scholarship. If you agree to enroll at Wammy's House I will sit down and explain to you what will be expected of you to keep your scholarship. As for your brother, with his record and your father's high-profile job as Chief of Police here, and with the fact that your brother won't be staying on the campus I was able to wave quite a bit of the expensive fees so the amount would be the same as paying for your brother to go a decent private school." Mr. Wammy told him, his tone sounding as if he was talking to an adult instead of a kid. Raito liked that. He didn't feel as if he was a kid talking to an adult, but rather an adult talking with another adult. Raito went over everything Mr. Wammy had just told him.

"Wait, you said that my brother wasn't going to be staying on campus, but you didn't say anything about me not staying on campus. Does that mean I'll have to stay on the campus if I accept the scholarship?" Raito asked causing Mr. Wammy to smile proudly at him, it made him feel as if he had just passed a test Mr. Wammy had given him.

"There _is_ a clause in the scholarship saying that you are to have a dorm room." Mr. Wammy told him. "However, it doesn't state that the dorm room has to be used as a _dorm_ room. I have seen other students on this scholarship that lived with their caretakers to use their dorm room as a sort of workshop." That caused Raito to smile, he had never had a workshop to create his toys in. "You should know that an aspect to the scholarship you'll be given is that you'll have access to any material you may need to create whatever toy or invention you are working on."

"Really?" Raito asked excitedly. "You mean I won't have to go scrounging around in the trash to find parts?" He ignored his mother's shocked gasp at that.

"Not unless you _want_ to." Mr. Wammy told him with a smile. Raito whipped around to look up at his parents, looking like his age. Raito knew it was rare for him to look like a nine-year-old, he spoke and acted older than he was. But that was just how his mind worked.

"Can I go to Wammy's House, please mommy, daddy?" Raito asked. His father gave a sigh and his mother hid a laugh behind her hand before they both turned their attention to the man behind Raito who had stood back up.

"I'll have to put in my notice and we'll have to find a place to stay, not only that but I'll have to find a new job." His father told Mr. Wammy and Raito felt his smile start to slip from his face, he knew that tone of voice. His father was listing off all the reasons why they _couldn't_ go.

"I already have a house waiting for you. I have quite a few connections to the British Police Force, with one call I'll be able to have you transferred over." Mr. Wammy informed them and Raito looked at him.

"Did you know my mom and dad would say yes?" Raito asked and Mr. Wammy smiled at him.

"I had high hopes that I could convince them." Mr. Wammy told him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two-**

L bit his thumb as he was forced to sit in on a test, one of the few conditions he accepted to be able to take his classes via the internet. Many teachers and students had voiced their disagreement at L not having to be sitting in class to have class. They claimed that it was 'unfair' and that L was getting 'special treatment' from Quillsh because L was his adopted child. To try and silence them, Quillsh had told L that if he wanted to take his classes via the internet then he would have to sit for end of quarter tests. This was one such test.

L had finished his test within minutes of being allowed to start it, now he was being forced to sit and _wait_ for the other students to finish before he could leave. He glared down at the desk he was sitting in his normal crouch in. He had an important case to work on and he was stuck in class. If Quillsh hadn't stated that he'd force him to stop being a Detective if he stopped classes then L wouldn't even be here.

Five minutes after he had finished his test L had pulled out a notebook from within the desk (not caring that it wasn't his) and had begun tearing out blank pages and folding them into origami boxes. Ten minutes after finishing his test and L was now stacking the boxes he had made, trying to see how high he could stack them before they fell. 15 minutes after finishing his test and L was back to making more boxes. 20 minutes after finishing his test and L was building a castle with the boxes. 25 minutes after he had finished his test the teacher had finally taken note of what L was doing and confiscated his boxes and the notebooks from the desk so that he couldn't make more.

"Times up, pencils down." The teacher announced when a total of 45 minutes had passed since the start of the test. L quickly stood up, slipping his shoes back on, and began walking towards the door. "Class is not over, L, sit back down." The teacher told him as she glared at him.

"I have taken my test and fulfilled my obligation here." L told her, his voice monotone, he did not see fit to waste the energy of actually caring on her. "Unless you have another test for me to take, which is at a low 1% chance if that, then I am no longer required to stay in the classroom." With that said, L left a stunned class behind him. He knew that once the class was over and the teacher had a break, she would make her way to talk to Roger about him. Normally the teachers would go straight to Quillsh to complain about him, but Quillsh was away at the moment so they were forced to go to Roger.

L walked down the empty hallway, shoulders slumped and head slightly tilted down. He was glad to have the hallway to himself. He did not wish to have to be forced to shove his way through the crowd of students again. He had had to do that when Roger had personally walked him to the classroom earlier, apparently not trusting him to make it there himself. L liked the silence. He didn't have to hear the slurs and taunts thrown at him from the other students.

L turned a corner and stopped. Quillsh was standing in front of him, having also stopped on his way to somewhere. It would seem that Quillsh had returned from his trip. L quickly took note that Quillsh was not alone. Standing next to him was a young boy about nine with short caramel colored hair and bright honey brown eyes. Standing behind Quillsh was a woman in her late thirty's early forties with chin-length brown hair and warm, tired looking brown eyes. She was of Asian descent and had a slim build. Holding onto the woman's hand was another young boy about nine. Glancing between the boy next to Quillsh and the one hanging onto the woman's hand, it was clear to see that they were twins.

"Ah, L, I was not expecting you to be out and about in the halls at this time." Quillsh said before glancing at this watch. "Classes are still in session, correct."

"I have just finished a test." L informed him causing Quillsh to sigh.

"I suppose I now have the joy of waiting for your teacher to come and complain about how you left class early again." Quillsh said.

"You only stated that I had to be in the classroom to take my test, you did not say I had to _stay_ once the test was over. As I told her, I have fulfilled the obligation you gave me. I did not break my promise to you and the school. I do not see the problem here." L stated placing his thumb on his bottom lip and tilting his head as his mind ran over everything that happened in the last hour. He had allowed Roger into his dorm room and let the man frog march him to the classroom. He took the test and past it. He stayed until the end of the test time, having learned his lesson from before (Quillsh had been forced to appease the teacher and 'ground him' from Detective work for a month).

"What if you missed something important being taught." The young boy clinging to the woman who was now shushing him and whispering in Japanese that this was not a conversation they should join in.

"Highly unlikely. There is a 98% chance that she would only be going over the test and if not, then there is a 93% chance she is going over something I already learned about when I was 7." L told the boy.

"And what about the 7% chance that she doesn't go over something you already know?" The twin asked quietly.

"Then my camera will pick it up and I will learn it when I review the footage." L explained and the boy nodded accepting the explanation.

"But what about your friends? Won't your friends miss you if you're not in class with them?" The first boy piped up. L stared at him blankly. Friends? L didn't have _friends_. He had allies and people who owed him favors for solving cases they couldn't solve themselves. To have a friend L would have to create an emotional connection with said friend, and L no longer did that. It hurts too much when they turn on you and stab you in the back.

When he had first been enrolled, he had thought he had made a friend with another student, they 'played' and ate lunch together and L helped her with her homework. A month after befriending each other, L stumbled upon the information that _she_ was leading the charge in his bullying. He tried again with a few new students when they got some, only to have them turn on him in fear of being picked on and bullied as well. After a while L learned that it was pointless to make friends, allies were much easier to manage. There was no obligations besides helping each other and once you were useless to each other you could just end your alliance. Simple. Easy. Safer.

"Quillsh, who are these boys?" L demanded turning his attention to his adopted father who happened to be one of his allies. Quillsh gave him a sad smile before for gently pushing the twin next to him forward.

"This is Raito Yagami, our new Inventor Scholarship owner, and this," he motioned to the boy clinging to the woman's hand, "is his twin brother Hikari Yagami. As of today, they are students here. And this is their mother, Sachiko Yagami. I was just taking them on a tour of the campus. Our next stop after the classrooms will be the dorms as Raito will be required to have one himself." Quillsh informed him. L scanned the twins again with that information in mind. Hikari didn't look that interesting to him, but then again neither did the other 'geniuses'. However, there was something about Raito that he couldn't pinpoint that called to him. Was it that calculating glint in his eyes? Was it that shy yet confident why he held himself? Whatever it was, L was sure that Raito was soon going to make a name for himself here at Wammy's, just like L had his first week there.

"I see." L said before stepping around the group and continued to his dorm room. If he was quick enough, he would be able to make it before the end of classes and not have to face the crowd again.

"L," Quillsh called after him causing him to pause and turn his head, silently alerting the man he was listening, "Raito's dorm room is across from yours. I expect you to be civil with him." L didn't respond as he continued his journey back to the safety that was his dorm room, he had a case to solve.

**-Two-**

Raito's eyes nervously glanced around the room at his new classmates as Mr. Wammy introduced him sending whispers around the room. It was apparent that not many students got the headmaster to personally introduce them. After his introduction was finished, with him stumbling over his own name first in Japanese and then in English causing a few students to snicker, Raito was free to sit in an empty seat in the back, which he was thankful for. Raito had never been a big public speaker, that was his brother's thing, he was more into communication via text without having to see the person. It was easier that way and he could take as long as he needed to get is thoughts together before sending the message.

After a few minutes of listening to the boring lecture on things he already knew, Raito glanced around to make sure no one was paying him any mind. Once he was sure that no one was watching him, he quickly pulled out his own home-made tablet. He quickly made sure that the volume was turned down before hacking into the school's internet (not having been able to ask for the passwords since he was 'too young', according to his parents, for anything that connected to the web).

He looked up at the teacher for a few minute, pretending to listen to him, before looking back down at his tablet and began to hack into his friend's computer. During the move there Raito hadn't been able to hack into his friend's computer and check up on him. Part of him wondered if his friend had noticed his absence and was worried for him, the other part knew that his friend would have been too busy to even notice he hadn't made an appearance in a while.

Raito wasn't dumb, far from it if being accepted into Wammy's House was anything to go on, he knew his friend was the Great Detective L. It hadn't taken long to figure that out after seeing the cases his friend had been working on when he checked in on him and reading about all the cases L had worked on. They had all been the same cases. It didn't take a genius to make that connection.

After meeting that older boy with the same name during his tour a few days ago, Raito wondered if _he_ was the Great Detective L. But he quickly dismissed that thought. That boy was still a student and couldn't have been much older than him. True the Great Detective L was thought to be young, but still being a grade student was far to young. Raito had concluded that L was just the boy's nickname. He probably idolized the Great Detective L and wished to be like him.

Raito's hands paused in the middle of his hacking and he looked up. He remembered that the first time the two of them had talked, the Great Detective L had been listening to a lecture. He remembered accidently typing out that the teacher had been wrong, alerting the detective that his computer had been hacked. But that had been a college lecture he had been listening to, right? Right.

With a nod, and happy he had figured that issue out, Raito went back to hacking into his friend's computer. He didn't mind that it got harder and harder to hack the computer, it felt like his friend was testing his skills. If Raito couldn't hack the computer then he hadn't earned the right to talk with the detective and then he would practice until he could hack back into the detective's computer. He liked watching the detective work on cases. He enjoyed helping the detective when he seemed stuck. He especially enjoyed when the detective asked him to hack into something for him.

Raito smiled and had to stop himself from dancing in joy when he finally hacked into his friend's computer. His smile slipped from his face when he noticed that nothing was up. Was his friend asleep? It wasn't often that Raito hacked into his friend's computer while he was sleeping. Raito typed out a quick 'Good night' before backing out of the computer, closing and locking every door he had opened on the way in.

Raito hid his tablet in the desk and made to look as if he were paying attention as his mind raced trying to come up with something to keep him busy through out the rest of this dull lesson. His mind recalled the conversation he'd had with Mr. Wammy about what was expected of him for him to keep his scholarship. He had been granted the Inventor Scholarship, the youngest ever in fact. But for him to be able to keep that scholarship Raito had to go in front of the board and either present them a new invention/toy or show a marked improvement on a previous invention/toy at the end of every school year. But not only that, Raito also had to keep at least a B average in his classes. Which, given how this first lesson was going, wouldn't be an issue for him.

Mr. Wammy told him that if the board liked his invention or toy enough then they would buy it from him and the money would be _his_ to chose what to do with. Mr. Wammy even promised to make sure that the board didn't cheat him.

Raito was nervous that since he come in at the beginning of the last quarter of the year, that he wouldn't be able to come up with something in time. His mind flashed to Mr. Wammy's reaction to the little kitten he had made. If he used that as a starting point, he might be able to have something to show the board.

Raito quickly pulled out a notebook and began to draw out the kitten's design from what he could remember. He then began to tweak its design and marking down ideas on what material he thought would give it the best flexibility and movement. He scribbled down ideas about how to make the voice box work without it breaking if it ever fell or hit the ground. He instantly scrapped the big, plastic eyes he had originally used and jotted down ideas on how to make the eyes look more natural.

Soon enough Raito looked up and he realized that it was the end of the day and he didn't remember any of his classes past the beginning of the first one. He didn't know how he had managed to find his other classes nor did he remember what he had had for lunch. And yet he felt as if he had accomplished quite a bit that day.

Raito stood at the to of the stairs looking down at the front door. He knew is mother was waiting in the parking lot to pick him and his brother up after their first day. He glanced to the left at the hallway that would lead to the dorms. But he really wanted to get started on improving his kitten. However, he countered, he couldn't really start without the materials. He turned his head back towards the front doors and looked at the double doors to the right of the front doors. He'd have to make an official request with Roger and, after their first meeting, Raito didn't want to have to deal with him so soon.

With a sigh, Raito forced himself to walked down the stairs, dodging the other students that were happily chatting away with each other, and made his way to the double doors that would lead him to Roger's office. With another sigh, Raito gripped the strap of his bookbag and pushed through the double doors and froze. The main office was crowded with teachers and older students and their voices mingled into a loud cacophony of sounds. Raito wanted to turn around and just leave and find a way to talk either his mother or brother into turning in his request for the materials he'd need, but he knew that he'd have to eventually do this himself and doing it now rather than later when it would be harder was just smart.

Raito nervously made his way through the crowd towards the main desk, where Mr. Wammy told him he could ask for the form to fill out for the materials. Raito remembered that Mr. Wammy said that once finished with the form he could either leave it with the receptionist or he could just hand it personally to Roger. However, Mr. Wammy had continued, if he left it with the receptionist the chances of it getting misplaced or taking a few days to make it into Roger's hand was high since the receptionists was very busy. So, it would just be in everyone best interest that Raito give the form to Roger himself.

Raito made it to the desk and stood on his toes to try and pull himself high enough over the counter for the receptionist to see him. He saw that she was busy quickly typing away at her computer while occasionally filing different papers away. "Um, excuse me." Raito nervously called out; however, his voice was too soft to carry over the noise. When the receptionist didn't look at him Raito nervously looked around, what was he to do now? "E-excuse me, ma'am." He tried again a bit louder. The receptionist looked up and around in confusion and Raito realized he wasn't expecting a kid to be in the office at this time so he raised his hand to get her to look at him.

"Oh my." She gasped and quickly shot out of her seat to be able to peer over the count to look at him. "How long have you been here, sweety." Raito was shocked to hear her American accent after hearing quite a bit of English accents and a few Russian accents thrown in the mix. "How can I help you."

"Oh, um, I, uh, I'm Raito Yagami." Raito's brain raced to figure out how to ask for the form he needed, did he just ask straight out or did he let her know he was an inventor. "I'm, uh, I've got the Inventor Scholarship," she looked both shocked and impressed at that, "and I need, I mean, could I… would it be okay if I…" He paused, his face flushing in embarrassment as he fumbled his words. He hated this. Why couldn't he just ask for the form over text or something, his was just plain humiliating. Tears began to fill up his eyes as he once again wished for his brother's ability to be able to _talk_ to people.

"Do you need to order some materials?" She asked him kindly and he nodded. She gave him an understanding smile as she began to look around for the form he needed. "It gets easier, don't worry."

"What does?" Raito asked.

"Talking to people." The receptionist said. "Trust me, I know, I used to be terrified to speak to people I didn't know. If it helps, create a character in your mind that isn't scared to talk to people and then when you have to talk people you just mentally slip on that mask and become that character." She told him before handing him the form with a wink. "Good luck, and I hope to see this invention you're working on."

"It's a toy." Raito told her shyly.

"Well then, I'll keep an eye out for it in toy shops and I'll buy it the second it hits the shelves." She told him with a wide smile that caused Raito to smile back. "There's a sitting area in that corner that you can used to fill that form out. And here's a little tip, always ask for a larger amount of the materials than you think you need, you can never go wrong with having an extra amount."

"Thank you." Raito said before rushing over to the sitting area and filling out the form making sure to ask for more amounts than he believed he needed. It took him a few minutes, he had debated if he needed a material or not, but in the end, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask for it. Once done filling out the form he quickly made his way to Roger's office, remembering where it was from the tour. He hesitated at the open door before taking a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Roger called out and Raito nervously stepped into the room, holding the form tight to his chest. The two of them stared at each other for a long minute before Roger seemed to grow irritated. "What can I help you with, Mr. Yagami? I am a busy man." He snapped out causing Raito to jump a bit before he rushed over to the desk and thrusted the form out to him. Roger rose and eyebrow as he took the form and looked over the list. "This is quite a list of materials, Mr. Yagami, what do you plan to make with all this? Most of our older Inventor students don't even ask for this many materials." Raito's brain shut down at that question.

"Um, uh, Kitten?" Raito managed to get out and Roger didn't look impressed.

"You need all this for a kitten?" He asked looking and sounding as if he believed Raito was lying to him. Raito took a deep breath to gather his thoughts.

"I am hoping to create a realistic kitten for kids, or their parents or siblings, who have allergies to cats to own and play with." Raito explained and was proud of himself for not stumbling over his words. Roger glanced back over the list.

"All this for a toy cat?" Roger asked.

"Yes." Raito said with a nod and Roger sighed before setting the form down on his desk.

"I'll place the order then and when they get here, I'll have them delivered to your dorm room." Roger told him.

"Thank you, sir." Raito said before turning and began to leave before he paused and awkwardly looked back at Roger. Were they done? Could he leave?

"We're done, you can leave now." Roger told him and Raito hurried out of his office and back into the reception area where he gave the receptionist a quickly wave, not sure if she saw it or not, before quickly making his way to the parking lot where he found his mom and brother waiting.

"There you are, what took you so long? You get lost or something?" Hikari asked as Raito quickly climbed into the backseat beside him.

"I was ordering some materials for my invention." Raito told him as he buckled up.

"Oh? What are you planning on making if I may ask?" Their mother asked as she turned the car on.

"You know that toy kitten I made a while ago, I'm planning on trying to make it better and get it to actually work like it should." Raito explained excitedly.

"Lame!" Hikari explained and Raito mentally shrunk in on himself. "Why are you creating a dumb cat, you should totally make some more spy toys. I showed off the spy watch to a couple of my classmates and they agree that they are AWESOME. They want a spy watch too. And then we can run around being spies! _That_ is what you should make, not a stupid cat." Raito looked out the window and watched the scenery pass by as he fought back the urge to cry. Would the board members also think that his kitten was lame? Should he do as his brother suggested and continue to make spy toys?

"Hikari, that was rude. It's your brother's decision what he wants to focus his time on." Their mother reprimanded.

"But mom, it's a stupid decision!" Hikari whined.

"Hikari Yagami, if I hear you saw lame or stupid one more time you will be grounded for the rest of the week." Their mother told him and Hikari huffed and glared out of his window. "Now, I've heard a lot of how Hikari's day went, tell me about your day Raito." Raito stayed silent too deep in thought about what to make. He _really_ wanted to work his toy kitten, he knew that it could be a big hit, but he knew that his brother was right about making spy toys. There were more things he could do with them.

What if he combined the two?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three-**

L sat in his normal crouch in front of his computer, the spoon he had been eating his ice cream with dangling from his bottom lip and his eyes read over the case file in front of him. This case was a simple B&E on the surface, but the culprit had somehow managed to get their hands on what the hackers like to call a skeleton key. It could open any cyber lock. It was clear to L that the culprit was more actually more than one person, and they had used the physical brake in as a diversion. But why the culprits wanted to use this skeleton key to hack into a jewelry place was still a mystery to L. One that he intended to find.

L was rudely jolted out of his thoughts by someone pounding on the dorm room door across from him. He growled and quickly pulled up the camera feed from the camera he had installed just outside his door. He saw Hikari and his gang of 'friends' standing out in the hallway facing Raito's dorm room turned workshop. L rolled his eyes. In the past months that the twins had been there, Hikari and his gang of friends would journey to the dorms to pound on Raito's door in hopes to get some more 'spy toys' to play with.

L watched as an annoyed Raito threw his door open. L could understand the nine-year-old's frustration with Hikari and his gang. The school year was winding down and Raito needed to focus on whatever he would be presenting to the board. That was a lot of pressure for anyone much less a nine-year-old. If the board didn't like Raito's invention he would be on probation and given six months to create something else. And if _that_ invention failed to impress the board then Raito would be asked to leave the school.

"What?" L heard Raito growl out.

"We're just here to check and see if any of the spy toys you're making are done yet." Hikari told him with a wide smile and L watched as Raito pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hikari for the last time, I am not making you any more spy toys at this moment. I have to focus on finishing the toy I'll be presenting to the board." Raito explained.

"Are you _still_ working on that dumb cat? You couldn't get it to work when you were six, what makes you think that you can get it to work now?" Hikari asked and the air tensed up between the brothers before Raito just slammed the door on Hikari causing L to let out a small chuckle. After the shock wore off, Hikari began to pound on the door once more. "Raito!" L watched as Hikari tried to open the door only to find that Raito had locked it. "Raito open the door! I'm going to tell mom!" The door stayed shut much to L's approval. If Raito wanted to work on this cat toy then he has that choice and Hikari had no place to demand Raito to work on a toy that Hikari wanted him to work on for his own gain.

L watched, and listened, as Hikari and his gang yelled for Raito to open his door all while pounding on Raito's door. It was quickly becoming very annoying. L pulled out his phone and messaged Quillsh about all the noise that Hikari and his gang were making. He added that they were purposefully bothering Raito while he was trying work. Just before he sent the message, he debated whether to keep in the bit about Raito before deciding it would get Quillsh up there faster. L had noticed that Quillsh had taken a liking to the young inventor and had started going out of his way to help Raito in anyway he could. Maybe Raito reminded Quillsh of himself when he was younger and constantly inventing knew things

A few minutes later L was watching a Quillsh escort Hikari and his gang away, and moments later Raito poked his head out of his workshop, headphones hanging around his neck. It would see that Raito had used music to block out their pounding and yelling. After Raito noticed that the hallway was clear he look directly into L's hidden camera and mouthed out a 'Thank you', before closing his door. L shook his head, partially wondering how the boy had known about the hidden camera, it wasn't like he had done that _for_ the boy, Hikari and his gang had just annoyed him, that was all.

L found himself watching Raito's closed door for a few more minutes before he sneered at himself and forced himself to focus back on his case. He _didn't_ help Raito; he had helped _himself_. But no matter how hard L tried, he couldn't convince himself that he found Raito annoying, because he _didn't_. Raito was actually quite the opposite of annoying. The boy was quiet and usually kept to himself choosing to focus on his invention rather than waste time playing. If there was _anything_ annoying about Raito it would have to be his brother, Hikari.

Hikari was loud and obnoxious. He always had to be the center of attention now matter what he was doing or where he was. Hikari was everyone's friend which, in L's mind, meant that he was _no_ one's friend.

L shook his head and shoved his thought of the twins to the side for now. He didn't have time to think about them at the moment. He needed to focus on solving the case.

The culprits physically took a few grand worth of diamonds, those would be easily located since they had microscopic serial numbers. L quickly called up some of his contacts in the black market and ordered them to keep an eye out for any of the stolen diamonds. They were to contact him immediately should any of them come across their desks. Once that was done, L turned his attention back to trying to figure out why the would hack into the store's data bank. What was in there that they wanted or needed.

L read over the report of everything missing to see if the owners had reported the cyber-attack. He highly doubted it, but most people were stupid and tended to slip up. He didn't find any clue of what could have been stolen from the data bank which left L to have to hack into the data bank himself. L thought himself to be a pretty good hacker himself, the only person he had ever met that was better than him was his hacker. However, his hacker hadn't made their usual appearance lately and he had no way of contacting them so he was forced to try and crack the jewelry store's software.

Hours later found L on the verge of throwing something. He had tried everything he could think of to try and break into the jewelry store's data bank. Nothing he threw at it even seemed to phase the system. Who had created this software? How had the jewelry store got in contact with this person? Where was this person when he was trying to keep his hacker out of his own system? And _where_ _was his hacker when he needed them_?

 _"Need some help?"_ His hacker messaged him as if magically being summoned.

"Where have you been?" L demanded slamming his fist down on the ground.

 _"Sorry, I've been quite busy. But hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be free to help more often."_ L scoffed at that. What was so important that it was keeping his hacker busy? What was more important than helping him solve his cases? Nothing! Nothing was more important! That's what! L bit his thumb to keep from demanding to know what his hacker had been doing. They had an unspoken rule that neither of them would ask for questions about their personal lives. _"Tell me how I can help."_

"I need you to hack into this store's data bank." L ordered.

 _"The Black Cat Jewelry Store? Why? What's going on?"_ That caused L to pause. His hacker didn't normally question him about the place he wanted them to hack into. What was so special about _this_ place?

"Someone recently used a B&E to hide the fact that their partner was hacking into their data bank to steal something. I need you to hack in there and figure out what was stolen." L informed his hacker who became silent for a long moment and L was sure they were doing what he had asked of them. So, it came to a shock with his hacker messaged back two minutes later.

 _"How did they brake in? What method did they use? How did they find the back door? Did they even use the back door? How did they get past all the traps?"_ L blinked at that.

"Have you hacked into this system before?" L asked and his hacker went silent for another minute.

 _"It's mine."_ His hacker told him.

"Excuse me?" L asked.

 _"That system the Black Cat Jewelry Store is use, I made it for them. They contacted me a little over a year ago and commissioned 'hack-free' system. I spent months created that system, it is also the same system that I, myself, am using to protect myself."_ L was shocked at that. His hacker had been working for other people? His hacker had made this seemingly 'hack-free' system? A wave of anger washed over him. How many other people was _his_ hacker working with? Where these other people the reason _his_ hacker had been too busy to help him?

L shot to his feet and stormed out of his room, he needed to be away from his hacker, he couldn't be in the same room with that-that-that hacker _whore_. He slammed his door shut hopping his hacker heard it. He stood in front of his dorm room panting in anger as his mind race to figure out what he should do now. He was just to angry to even think about trying to work on the case, he needed to calm himself down. His eyes locked onto Raito's door.

L strolled across the hallway and knocked on Raito's door. It wasn't until after he knocked and was waiting for Raito to open the door did he realize how late it was. Raito was probably already back at home with his annoying brother and his loving parents. He turned to walk away as his mind began to race as it tried to find something else to help calm him down when the door opened. He turned back around to see a shocked looking Raito.

"Hi?" Raito asked obviously confused. The two of them had hardly interacted beside the occasionally awkward 'hello' when ever L found himself out of his dorm room to wander the halls. Which, if L was being honest with himself, seemed to be happening more and more since the months Raito had been there. L shuffled his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly. He hadn't made a plan past knocking.

"Hi." L muttered and the two stood there staring at anything that wasn't the other person.

"Would you like to come in?" Raito asked and L shuffled his way into Raito's dorm room turned workshop. He allowed his eyes to wander around the room, taking everything in. It was messy but L was sure that Raito has his own system and probably knew where everything was. L knew that he, himself, was like that with how he filed his note on cases. The door closed and the two of them stood in the room as an awkward air fell around them. L didn't know what to say, he didn't even truly know _why_ he was here or why he believed Raito would distract him from his anger at his hacker.

"Would you mind giving me your opinion on my kitten?" Raito asked and L nodded causing the boy to smiled brightly up at him. L watched as Raito made to grab his hand before deciding against it as he turned that him reaching out into a motion inviting him further into the room. "I intend for this toy to be pet for people who are allergic to cats. I started working on her when I was six years old, obviously I didn't have the materials or tools I have now so it didn't turn out as I had hoped." Raito explained as he lead L towards the other end of the room where a large metal table sat against a wall. On the table were three lamps that were focused on the metal skeleton of a robotic kitten. L looked at Raito for permission to pick up the skeleton and received a nod.

"It's heavy, too heavy." L commented on.

"Yeah. I know. I've been coming up with ideas on how to make it lighter while still keeping it flexible. But, at the moment, I don't have the time to create a new, lighter skeleton. After my appointment with the board, I'll begin focusing on making it lighter. Right now, I'm more focused on getting it to move more like a normal cat." Raito explained.

"That is understandable. When did they schedule your meeting? Have they told you?" L asked carefully setting the skeleton back on the table, it wouldn't do to accidently break Raito's invention with his appointment so close.

"In two weeks." Raito told him with a sigh that was definitely not enough time to make the skeleton lighter _and_ get it to work properly. "Would you like to see it in action?"

"It works? I thought you said you were focusing on getting it to work?" L asked causing Raito to laugh.

"If you recall, I told you I was focusing on getting it to move more like a normal cat. Here, watch." Raito touched the skeleton on the nose and L watched fascinated as the ears began to twitch and it blinked its eyes a few times before it opened its mouth and let out a meow that had obviously been recorded. L bent down and watched as the skeleton awkwardly moved around the table. "As you can see, if looks like a robot trying to imitate a kitten, what I'm trying to do is trying to make its movement less jerky and more natural."

"That will be quite difficult to do." L stated.

"I know, but I'm determined to make it happen." Raito told him proudly, L glanced over at him and couldn't stop the small smile from appearing on his face. He was sure that Raito would be able to figure it out. "This version is already moving a lot smoother than the first version." Raito said before bending down and began digging in a box that L just notice was hiding under the table. When Raito stood back up, he held a black kitten and placed it on the table next to the skeleton that had sat down and was watching them. "See." Raito said before petting the black kitten. L watched it intently. Raito had been right, if L were to compare the movements of the skeleton to the movements of the black kitten, the skeleton was a lot smoother.

"Will the skeleton be a black kitten as well?" L asked as he placed his thumb on his bottom lip.

"Yes," Raito said before quickly reaching across the table to grab at the black pile of fur that L was quickly realizing was the skeleton's skin, "if all goes well there will be a variety of colored kittens and I might even branch off to other animals as well."

"Raito-kun is amazing." L told him purposefully using the honorifics from Raito's home country. He blinked when he noticed Raito's eyes tearing up. Had he upset Raito? He hadn't meant to. "Is Raito-kun alright? Did I upset you? I didn't mean to."

"No, I'm fine L, it's just that no one outside my family as ever told me that I was amazing." Raito told him with a wet laugh. "It felt really good."

"I was just stating facts." L told him tilting his head. It was clear to him that Raito was brilliant and amazing, he almost found it hard to believe that it had taken this long for someone to notice that fact. And yet, at the same time, L could believe it, other people tended to overlook the people like him and Raito, labeling them as freaks and weirdos instead of the brilliant and amazing people they were.

The two of them stood there in a comfortable silence before it was broken by a knock at the door. Raito quickly rushed to answer it and found Quillsh and Raito's mother standing there.

"It's time to come home, Raito. You need to eat dinner and take a bath before doing your homework and going to bed." Raito's mother told him and the boy glanced back at him with an embarrassed flush to his face. L shuffled out the door, shocking Quillsh that he had even been in there and allowed Raito to shut and lock the door.

"Thanks for giving me your opinion on my toy, L." Raito said and L nodded as he quickly made his way back into his own dorm room. It was only after he had listened through the door as Raito, his mother, and Quillsh walked away that he realized that he was no longer angry at his hacker. His time spent with Raito had calmed his rage. He made his way back over to his computer and noticed his hacker had left him a few messages.

_"Are you okay? I heard a loud sound?"_

_"You still there?"_

_"Hello?"_

_"Hang on, someone's at the door."_

There was nothing else after that last message. L crouched down and thought what had happened. Thinking back now that he was calmer, it was logical that his hacker would work with other people, it wasn't as if they were exclusive to just each other. L was constantly working with other people, Quillsh and the British Police Force were just a few examples. And so what if his hacker had made the system Black Cat Jewelry was using, it just meant that it would be easier for his hacker to hack them as he knew the back doors and everything.

However, L was stuck on the case. There was nothing else for him to do except wait until either his hacker had finished snooping around the Black Cat Jewelry's data bank or until the culprits slipped up and tried to sell the diamonds that they had stolen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who wants to know the ages of some of the characters in this chapter:
> 
> Raito: 9  
> Hikari: 9  
> L: 13  
> Takada: 14  
> Mikami: 14  
> Beyond: 16

**Chapter Four-**

Raito sighed as he sat outside, hidden in the garden maze as he ate his lunch, well more like picked at his lunch. His meeting with the board had come and gone. They had been quite impressed with his toy kitten, especially after he had showed them the original and how much better this new one was. He had explained to the board what he had hoped to do with the kitten in terms of designs. Impressed with his invention, the board allowed Raito to continue with his scholarship and that had been a huge weight off of him.

However, news quickly spread about what he was working on and many students had started seeking him out. He hated it. Raito did not like people he did not know coming up to him and start talking to him. It was awkward and his brain shut down and he stuttered like crazy which caused people to laugh at him and that made his stuttering worse which always started the teasing from the students that were jealous of him. And it just wasn't very pretty overall. And his brother wasn't helping matters either.

Half the time Hikari was dragging him into the middle of his group of friends and bragging about all the toys Raito would be able to make for them. And the other half he was the one that was leading the jealous kids in their teasing. And because Hikari was his brother he knew what to say to create the most damage.

Raito sighed and pushed his lunch away, suddenly not very hungry anymore. He pulled out his tablet and connected it to the school's internet. He quickly hacked into the Black Cat Jewelry Store's system that he had made for them and continued to sift through all the data they had, looking for anything that the hackers could have wanted to steal. There was a lot of information to sift through and it was taking longer than he or the Great Detective L had anticipated. Part of Raito was hoping to not actually find anything, hoping that his system had kept them out. But his friend was adamant that the hackers had been able to get in by way of a skeleton key.

Raito looked up wide-eyed when he heard the voices of people heading towards him. In a panic, Raito shoved his tablet into his bookbag and grabbed his lunch before running farther into the maze. He didn't care who those people were, he didn't want them to find him, he didn't want them to start demanding he make them stuff or to tease him about making a toy cat for his invention.

He ran around a corner and bumped into someone causing him to fall to the ground. Raito looked up and, for a split second, thought he was looking at L. It wasn't until he noticed that the older boy had red eyes instead of black, that he knew that the person in front of him was not L. However, other than the eyes, this boy looked identical to L. "Hello, Raito-kun." The boy said causing a shiver of fear to flow down his spine. Raito didn't like the dark undertone that was hidden under his innocent tone of voice, and the look in the boys eyes just straight up terrified him. Not only that, but the boy was giving out terrifying vibes and Raito was sure the boy was going to hurt him.

Raito scrambled to his feet and turned around to run the other way only to find Takada Kiyomi and Mikami Teru blocking his path. He stared up at the two older Japanese students and felt a sense of betrayal, the three of them were Japanese and yet they were helping this boy. What did they want from him? What were they going to do to him? He had heard the rumors that these two students would bully the younger students like him. However, this was the first time he had ever run into them, having been careful not to cross their paths before.

"Why are you running, Raito-kun, I just want to ask you a favor." L's look-a-like said from behind him. Raito glanced at the boy from over his shoulder and began to shake in fear. He hadn't heard anything about this boy, didn't even know his name, and that terrified him.

"Leave me alone, please." Raito begged quietly as he began to cry as the boy walked around him so that he was no in front of Raito.

"Aw, shh, shh. Don't cry, Raito-kun, I just need your help with something." The boy told him as he gently wiped away a couple of Raito's tears, causing Raito to flinch away form his touch. His hands were ice cold. "Will you help me?" Raito closed his eyes and hugged his bookbag to his chest wishing that someone, _anyone_ , would stumble upon them and save him. "You'll help me, right, Raito-kun, because we're friends, yes?" Raito, terrified what the boy would do to him, nodded his head. "Good." The boy said clapping causing Raito to flinch back and squeeze his eyes shut. He whimpered when he felt the boy's ice-cold fingers wrap around his wrist, causing Raito's eyes to snap open as the boy drug him through the maze. Where was he taking him? Why him? What had Raito done to cause this boy to choice him of all people to do whatever he was going to do to him?

When the four of them made it out of the maze, Raito's blood ran cold when he saw that no one was outside. Lunch had ended and everyone had gone back to class. No one was there to save him. The boy drug Raito to the back of the school and towards the woods that the students were forbidden to play in. The boy continued to lead Raito through the woods, seeming to know exactly where he was going. After a few minutes they came to a run-down hut in the middle of a clearing. The boy drug him to the hut and forced him to sit in the middle of the one room hut.

"Search him. Make sure he doesn't have any way to contact anyone." The boy ordered and Takada and Mikami quickly began to search him. "We can't have you ruining my fun by alerting people to your absence, now do we." Terrified for his safety Raito shook his head as Mikami found his tablet that now had a broken screen from when he had fallen earlier. "Aw, the screen's all busted, but I'm sure this is just an easy fix for you. I'll give this back after they've found you." The boy said as he put the tablet in his own bookbag.

In the end, not knowing what Raito could use to make a way to communicate with the outside world, the boy ordered Takada and Mikami to take _everything_. They even stripped him down to his underwear. And, not wanting him to be able to scream and alert people, duck taped his mouth shut and tied his wrists and ankles together. Raito laid on the dirty floor of the hut crying in both fear and embarrassment. He didn't know how long this boy intended to keep him in this hut nor did he know who would find him.

Raito decided right then that the next time he wanted to hide from everyone, he would do so in the safety of his workshop.

**-Four-**

L was working on another case as he waited for his hacker to find any clue as to what the culprits had stolen from the Black Cat Jewelry Store case when he heard a strange noise at his door. L looked up from his computer and listened to the sound. It sounded as if something, or someone, was scratching at his door. He quickly pulled up his camera feed but saw that the hallway was empty, and yet he could still hear the scratching.

L got closer to the screen to see if he could see the hallway better. It was then that he noticed that the date on the bottom of the screen was wrong. Someone had hacked into his camera feed and recorded this days ago. L rolled his eyes at the juvenile prank that someone was obviously pulling on him. He would deal with the camera feed later, he had more important matters to attend to.

After a minute whoever was scratching at the door appeared to grow bored and left. And L continued to work on his other case until his phone began to ring. Quillsh was calling him. L rose his eyebrow at that, Quillsh didn't normally call him unless he was away and he knew that Quillsh was still here. If Quillsh wanted to speak with him he'd normally just come to his room, something was wrong.

"Yes?" L asked answering the phone.

"L, Raito wouldn't happen to be with you right now, would he?" Quillsh asked and L paused at that. Why was Quillsh asking him this? Sure him and Raito had begun to interact more since that time they had spent talking about his toy cat a little over three weeks ago, but it wasn't like he would allow the boy to hang around his room with sensitive information about cases laying around.

"No, I have not seen him today." L told him and heard the man sigh.

"That was what I had feared you would say." Quillsh muttered.

"Is there a problem, Quillsh?" L asked.

"As afraid as I am to say it, the answer is yes there seems to be a problem. Raito missed his afternoon classes. And no one seems to have seen him after his last class before lunch. I had assumed that Raito had just went back to his workshop for lunch and just lost track of time." Quillsh said sounding ashamed of himself.

"What has happened to change that assumption?" L asked refusing to accept the clues that were being laid out in front of him. There was no way that Raito, let alone _any_ student at Wammy's House, could have been kidnapped. The grounds were highly secured and anyone entering or leaving the campus had to have a security code to open the gates. However, L knew that there was a digital skeleton key out there in the wild now, someone could have used that skeleton key to bypass the code and open the gate. But why would they use the skeleton key to kidnap Raito? Why Raito? Was it deliberate? Or had Raito just happened to be the closest? L knew that people had tried for years to break into Wammy's House. Could someone have finally succeeded in breaking in here?

"Raito's bookbag and books were found in the car park, they had been dropped and the books scattered. The guards admitted to seeing a dark, unfamiliar van entering and leaving the school grounds via the gate." Quillsh said and L's blood ran cold. Had the culprits used the skeleton key on The Black Cat Jewelry Store's system to test and see if they had the real skeleton key? Was _this_ the real reason they had stolen that skeleton key? He _needed_ to find that key. And he would, _after_ he found Raito.

"Has word of this gotten out yet?" L asked.

"Thankfully, no." Quillsh told him.

"Let's try and keep it that way." L said glancing at the time, the last class of the day would be ending soon. "Don't let the teachers dismiss their classes." L was no longer a student of Wammy's House at the moment, right now he was the Great Detective L.

"Of course." Quillsh said understanding how serious this situation was. L heard him order a code Yellow and seconds later the intercom sounded.

"Would Kerry Gold please come to the office. I repeat: would Kerry Gold please come to the office." The receptionist announced the coded phrase to alert the staff about the lockdown without alerting the students.

"What was Raito's last class before lunch?" L asked as he quickly hacked into the school's security system, pulling up the camera feed and rewinding until just before lunch.

"English with Mrs. Reith, East Wing, third floor." Quillsh informed him and L quickly located the classroom and saw Raito sitting in the back head bent and looking at something in his lap. He watched as Raito seemed to tap on something… no not tap, type. The bell rang and Raito quickly, and stealthily hid whatever he had being using away in his bookbag.

Once Raito had left the classroom, L followed his movements through the halls. He watched the boy stop at his locker and switch the books for his morning class out with the books he'd need for his afternoon classes before grabbing his lunchbox. Once done at the locker, L followed Raito as he took the longer and mostly unused hallways to the courtyard where L then lost him once he entered the maze. L quickly called Quillsh.

"Have you found him?"

"I was able to follow him from his classroom to his locker, where he switched out his books and grabbed his lunchbox, before he made his way to the courtyard. He used the longer and mostly unused hallways to avoid the majority of the crowds." L informed.

"I had heard that the other students had begun to bother Raito about his invention and trying to ask him to make them one. So it would make sense that he would try to avoid them. Did you see where he went from there?" Quillsh asked.

"I lost him when he went into the maze." L told him. "Hold on." Two older students had made their way into the maze, two students that were known to pick on and torment the younger students.

"What is it?" Quillsh asked.

"Mikami Teru and Takada Kiyomi have just entered the maze, they may have bumped into Raito." L said as he began to fast forward the feed, keeping an eye out for either Raito, Mikami Teru, or Takada Kiyomi.

"I shall have the two pulled out of class." Quillsh said as he stopped fast forwarding when he saw Beyond Birthday pulling a terrified Raito from the maze with Mikami Teru and Takada Kiyomi following them.

"Do so because they've just left the maze with a terrified Raito being pulled by Beyond Birthday." L growled out, though part of him was happy to find that Raito hadn't been kidnapped by people who wanted to use him for ransom, the other part was pissed that Beyond had dragged Raito into their 'game', as Beyond liked to call whatever this thing between them was.

It was well known throughout the older students that L and Beyond had a strange cat and mouse game going on. Beyond would steal something and hide it away and force L to look for it. If anyone besides L looked for the object then Beyond would get violent and hurt people. It had never truly bothered L before, but now that the object was Raito, L was beyond furious. Beyond had gone too far and had pulled an innocent boy into this sick and twisted game of his. L hoped that, for Beyond's sake, Raito was unharmed when L found him.

"So _they_ were the once in the van? Where did they take Raito? And who is driving them?" Quillsh asked.

"They're not heading towards the car park; they're heading towards the woods. But that doesn't mean they didn't use the safety of the woods to circle around the school and towards the car park. Where in the car park was Raito's bookbag found?" L asked as he quickly pulled up the feed on the car park in another window, syncing it up with the feed he had used to followed the group into the woods.

"It was found near the edge of the car park next to the woods." Quillsh informed him and L silently cursed. By the time the group had gotten into the woods the dark van was already parked at the edge of the car park near the woods. L quickly rewound that feed until just before the van parked.

"Takada had been driving the van. If anything we can get her for underage driving, she's only 14." L informed Quillsh as he watched Takada exiting the driver's side and rushing in the direction of the courtyard, most likely to meet up with Mikami to enter the maze and block Raito's escape route. L fast forward the feed until the van drove away only to rewind it again to see Takada and Mikami struggling with someone of Raito's size and wearing the same clothes he had been wearing earlier with a bag over their head. He watched as the bookbag was dropped. L checked the time stamp. Nearly an hour after they had entered the woods.

Something about that wasn't right. L quickly pulled up the schematics to the school. They had entered the woods behind the school. The car park they used was to the east of where they had entered the woods. That was only a 20 minutes, 30 at most, walk even through the woods. L would know, he had made that walk before. Not only that, but why had Raito been so calm before and suddenly fighting up a storm? And where was Beyond?

"The van's a decoy." L muttered. "He's still on the grounds. He's in the woods!" L shot up, not caring that he had dropped his phone, and ran to his door. He opened the door and found a stopwatch taped to his door. L ripped it off and saw that almost three hours had past, he understood the message, Raito had been kidnapped and missing for nearly three hours. L dropped the stopwatch to the ground with a growl. If he had only gotten up to check on what the hell that scratching noise had been… L stopped that train of thought. He hadn't known Raito had been missing at that point, there had been no clue to lead him to that conclusion. So there had been no need to check on the scratching sound at the time. And, anyway, he didn't have time to berate himself, Raito needed him.

L took off running down the hallway, jumping down the steps when he reached them and burst through the doors to the courtyard. He quickly ran to where the group had entered the woods. He remembered that if he kept going in the direction he was heading then there would be an old hut. When he was younger, before he had been pushed down the stairs and began hiding in his dorm room, he would slip away and hide in that hut from the older kids that bullied him.

The second that L entered the clearing he had to bend backwards to miss being hit by a tree branch that Beyond had been wielding, the wet grass and his forward momentum causing him to slip. "Oh, it's you L, I thought you were Quillsh." Beyond said. L glared at him and quickly pushed off the ground and, using his upward momentum, kicked Beyond in the face. "No fair L, you _knew_ it was me! I didn't know it was you when I attacked!" Beyond cried holding his face in his hands.

"You brought this upon yourself when you kidnapped Raito-kun." L told him angrily.

"Raito-kun, Raito-kun, Raito-kun. Why is it always about Raito-kun!" Beyond growled dropping his hands to ball them at his sides and glared at L.

"You are the one who made it about Raito-kun." L stated and dodged Beyond when he launched at him.

" _You_ made it about Raito-kun the moment you started to pay that brat more attention than _me_ , your _soulmate_." Beyond growled, grabbing the fist that L had sent his way.

"We've been over this, Beyond, you are not my soulmate. There is no such thing as a soulmate." L told him as he allowed his body to fall backwards to the ground before using both of his legs to kick Beyond up and over him. Beyond grunted when he landed on his back on the ground.

"We are! We are! We are! We're soulmates! I know you see it!" Beyond yelled as the two of them jumped back to their feet. "Stop denying what you know is true!" L grunted when he tried to dodge another lunge from Beyond, only to be caught around the waist and thrown into the hut's door causing to creek at the force.

"I am not denying anything, Beyond, I am simply stating the facts." L told him as Beyond took old of his shoulders in a way that locked his arms against the door.

"You'll see soon enough." Beyond told him, a crazed look on his face. L quickly brought his legs up to rest his feet against Beyond's chest, resting his weight on the hut's door.

"That is enough, Beyond, this is ending, _now_." L told Beyond before he pushed off Beyond's chest sending the teenager falling into the awaiting arms of Quillsh who had finally shown up with the police, while he, himself, broke through the door, falling into a roll and landed on his stomach. Muffled whimpers caught his attention and he looked over to see that he had landed right next to a tied-up Raito.

L ran his eyes over Raito and saw that, physically, he was unharmed. Tears were falling from the boy's eyes as his body shivered from fear. It was only then that L noticed that Raito had been stripped to his underwear. L quickly pushed himself up and removed the tape covering Raito's mouth before getting to work on untying the poor boy.

"L!" Raito cried the moment that the tape had been removed from his mouth.

"Did he harm you?" L asked.

"No." Raito told him.

"Did he touch you in anyway?" L asked and blinked in shock when Raito tossed his arms around him the second his arms were free.

"No." Raito said, his voice muffled against L's chest. "He lead me here and ordered Mikami and Takada to search me to find anything that I could use to get a message out to the anyone about where I was, before ordering them to strip me down. He then had them tie me up and tape my mouth shut." Raito told him as his body began to shake even more as he remembered everything that had happened to him. At the mention that Raito was still only in his underwear, L quickly, and gently, pushed Raito away just enough so that he could pull off his shirt before putting it on the boy. The shirt was comically oversized on Raito, but it was only to be expected since L _was_ 13 as opposed to Raito who was only nine. And, strangely, L found the image of Raito wearing his shirt adorable.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before L took Raito in his arms and stood up. He shifted Raito in his arms before finding a comfortable carrying style (bridal style funnily enough) and carried him out of the hut. L refused to hand Raito over to an officer and lead them back towards the school where they found even more police officers and Raito's parents waiting. Everyone relaxed when they caught sight of Raito in L's arms, no one daring to question why the boy was wearing L's shirt. L watched as the police put Beyond in the back of a cruiser that also held Takada and Mikami.

"You will make sure they get the max sentence for what they've done to Raito-kun." L ordered Quillsh as he tightened his hold on Raito while glaring at the cruiser as it left.

"Of course." Quillsh said with a nod. "The paramedics wish to look over Raito and I am sure his parents would like to see for themselves that their baby boy is safe." L looked over at the paramedics debating whether or not to allow them to do so. Raito was most likely traumatized and exhausted and probably wished to go home and rest. However, it would be good to have them look over the boy just in case.

His mind made up, L headed towards the paramedics, meeting Raito's parents there. However, and issue arose when L tried to set Raito down and he screamed and cried while tightening his arms around L's neck. In the end, L had to sit down with Raito in his lap as the paramedics checked the boy over.

"Raito-kun will eat his lunches with me from now on." L told the boy who nodded in agreeance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be a time skip to when Raito is 13, so this is a little note to the people who would like to know how the Black Cat Jewelry Store case was solved.
> 
> While being question as to why he kidnapped Raito, BB (who was angry that L chose Raito over him) let slip that /he/ was the one that broke into the jewelry store. He didn't actually /steal/ the diamonds, they had never actually left the store. He had hidden them in the air duct. 
> 
> L had been right, the break in had been a decoy to test the digital skeleton key BB had secured. BB also wanted to use the threat of the skeleton key to throw L off his trail for a little while longer.
> 
> After it came out that BB had the digital skeleton key, L confiscated it. 
> 
> Also, in hopes to get Raito alone without raising suspicion, BB was the one that leaked out to everyone what Raito was creating. He had hoped that with Raito's personality that the boy would find it annoying and hide away somewhere that he could kidnap him.


End file.
